Each Graduate Program unit will establish a Graduate Education Advisory Committee in such a way that the related areas within the program are represented. A minimum of three Graduate Faculty members should comprise the Advisory Committee with the majority authorized to chair a doctoral committee. The membership of the committee must be approved by the Graduate Dean.
The responsibilities of this committee will be to:
- Advise, encourage, and act as an advocate for students from the first day a student is in the program. This should include regularly scheduled meetings with the student through the completion of the general examination and until the dissertation advisor is selected;
- Design an appropriate curriculum for each student;
- Work with the student to complete and file with the Graduate College a plan of study (Report of the Doctoral Advisory Conference). This report should be filed no later than the end of the student's first year in the program. The Committee should be sure that the student understands that the program may need to be modified or additional work may be necessary, depending on the choice of the dissertation advisor and dissertation topic;
- Coordinate the administration of the General Examination at the appropriate time;
- Perform an annual evaluation of each student's progress toward the degree and communicate the results of the evaluation to the student and the Graduate Dean; and
- Help the students select an appropriate dissertation advisor.
